Jurnal THEOLOGIA, Vol 30 No 2 (2019), 197–216

ISSN 0853-3857 (print) - 2540-847X (online) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21580/teo.2019.30.2.3845

AL-‘ULAMĀ’ WARATHAT AL-ANBIYĀ’:

Modernity and Nurture of Authority in Aceh Society

Ismail Fahmi Arrauf Nasution,1 Miswari2

1, 2Fakultas Ushuluddin, Adab dan Dakwah, Institut Agama Islam Negeri Langsa,

Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam - Indonesia

e-mail: 1ismailfahmiarraufnasution@iainlangsa.ac.id;
2miswari@iainlangsa.ac.id

Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the immunity factor of Acehnese loyalty to
the ulama. Generally, if the ulama fail to respond to problems that arise in
modernity, they are abandoned by society. Modernization is taking place very
quickly in Aceh. In Aceh, even though the ulama were unable to respond to
modernity, they were never abandoned by the community. The type of
modernization that is the focus of the author's observation is development,
politics, and economics which includes banking and trade. Using a qualitative
approach, this study finds, that is in Aceh, precisely because the ulama do not
respond to modernity, the immunity of loyalty to the ulama can continue. In
Aceh, secular-minded society, they give authority to experts in their respective
fields. Because the ulama are treated as religious experts, then when they do not
respond to other fields such as development, politics, economics and other fields,
they become respected. Although only given space in the field of religion, the
position of the ulama remains very important in Aceh because religion is a very
important part of the life of the Acehnese people.
Abstrak: Artikel ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis faktor keberlanjutan kesetiaan
masyarakat Aceh terhadap ulama. Secara umum, jika para ulama gagal merespon
masalah yang muncul dalam modernitas, mereka ditinggalkan oleh masyarakat.
Tetapi di Aceh, meskipun para ulama tidak mampu menanggapi modernitas,
mereka tidak pernah ditinggalkan oleh masyarakat. Jenis modernisasi yang
menjadi fokus pengamatan artikel ini adalah pembangunan, politik, dan ekonomi
yang mencakup perbankan dan perdagangan. Dengan menggunakan pendekat-
an kualitatif, penelitian ini menghasilkan temuan bahwa di Aceh, justru karena
ulama tidak menanggapi modernitas, imunitas loyalitas kepada ulama dapat
dipertahankan. Masyarakat Aceh berpola pikir sekuler. Mereka memberikan
otoritas kepada para ahli di bidangnya masing-masing. Ketika para ulama
diperlakukan sebagai ahli agama, dan mereka tidak menanggapi pembangunan,
politik, ekonomi dan bidang lainnya, mereka menjadi dihormati. Meskipun hanya
diberi ruang di bidang agama, posisi ulama tetap sangat penting di Aceh karena
agama merupakan bagian yang sangat penting dalam kehidupan masyarakat.
Keywords: ulama; modernization; Acehnese people; Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-
Jamā’ah; loyalty

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A. Introduction
Ulama ta peutimang ta sayang ngoen ta cinta
Ulama labang naggroe nyang peutrang asoe donya
Ulama bek ta beunci bek ta caci tahina
Ulama wareh Nabi tungkat geutanyoe dum na
The above Aceh song lyrics are popularized by local Acehnese artist Imum
John. The translation is: The ulama should be the main reference, we must love
them. The ulama are the nails for the country, they also illuminate the world. Do
not hate ulama and do not despise them. The ulama are the heirs of the Prophet
Muhammad who became a stick for all of us.
Thus, the ulama in the general view of the people of Aceh. The ulama are
the main references. They are loved by the people. The people of Aceh see the
ulama as the heirs (al-warathat) of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.
This view is the general assumption of researchers: that the ulama are the most
charismatic person. Generally, researchers assume that scholars have charisma
in all segments of life.1 In the study of ulama and modernity, the assumption of
the ulama as a charismatic person influences the results of their research. The
conclusion is that if the ulama are not able to respond to modernity, they will be
abandoned by society.2
Modernization is necessary for man as the development of thought,
improvement or change of needs, to overcome problems and facilitate the
mobilization of life and awareness of diversity. Modernity is an appreciation of
wisdom and rationality. In principle, Islam supports modernity. Islam
emphasizes to modernize.3
The codification of theology and the jurisprudence school (al-madhāhib al-
fiqhiyyah) of past ulama is a response to the theological problems and Islamic
law that developed in its day. Surely every age has different problems. Thus,
should the ulama as religious authorities constantly try to do ijtihad to actualize

____________
1Yusny Saby, “The Ulama in Aceh: A Brief Historical Survey,” Studia Islamika 8, no. 1 (2001): 1–

35, https://doi.org/10.15408/sdi.v8i1.694.
2Nirzalin, “Krisis Agensi Politik Teungku Dayah di Aceh” (Dissertation. Universitas Gadjah
Mada, 2011), http://repository.ugm.ac.id/digitasi/index.php?module=cari_hasil_full&idbuku=2714.
3Nucholish Madjid, Islam Kemodernan dan Keindonesiaan (Bandung: Mizan, 2008), 300–301.

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naṣ (Qur’an and Ḥadīth) to respond to modernity because the issues of the
ummah are always new and constantly changing.
However, the attitude of contemporary ulama consider the door of ijtihad
has been closed.4 They claim the human needs of religion as a worship guide and
the solution to all human life problems until the end of time have been fulfilled in
the codification of classical ijtihad. The ulama have made the religion segmented
in theology codification and classical jurisprudence. The codifications were
considered standard and should not be disturbed. Consequently, as society
continually faces new problems with no solution to the crystallized codifications,
religion becomes powerless to address the problems facing communities in
modernity. If there are intellectuals who try to solve the problems of
contemporary society by reconstructing, criticizing the classical Jurisprudence or
directly referring to the texts without following the classical jurisprudence, then
they can be claimed by the traditionalists as the heretics of religion.
Theology and jurisprudence which is the essence of religion authoritarian
have been claimed as the territory of ulama's authority.5 No one is justified to
take over the authority except those who have been asked by fanatics as the
authority's authority. The ulama in the understanding of Indonesian tradi-
tionalist Islam who are claimed to believe and know by rigid the codification of
Ash'ariah theology and practice and know with rigid Shafi'i school (madhhab).
Ash'ariah theology school and Shafi'i jurisprudence school are bundled and
named Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamā’ah. Thus, Islam in Indonesia, especially in Aceh,
is reduced to Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamā'ah.
In Aceh, the only the school received as true teaching in Islam is the Ahl al-
Sunnah wa al-Jamā’ah. Authority over this flow is left to the ulama. The ulama
are those who own and become leaders in traditional Islamic educational institu-
tions called dayah. Dayah is a traditional Islamic higher education institution.
Before studying in dayah, the students (santri) generally have learned a small
____________
4Mujamil, Tradisi-Tradisi Kreatif dalam Pemikiran Islam (Yogyakarta: Lentera Kreasindo,
2015), 93.
5Khaled Abou El-Fadl, Atas Nama Tuhan: Dari Fikih Otoriter ke Fikih Otoritatif (Jakarta:

Serambi Ilmu Semesta, 2004); Arskal Salim, Contemporary Islamic Law in Indonesia: Sharia and Legal
Pluralism (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University, 2015); Ronald A Lukens-Bull, “The Pesantren
Tradition: A Study of the Role of the Kyai in the Maintenance of the Traditional Ideology of Islam in
Java,” The Journal of Asian Studies, 2000.

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Qur'an (guides reading the Juz 'Amma) in rangkang. Then learn the basic
introductory books about fiqh and theology in the meunasah. After studying in
meunasah, the students continue to study in balee.6 After studying in balee, some
Acehnese 1) continue their religious education to dayah, 2) some choose to enter
government education institutions, and 3) some choose not to continue their
education. Of the three parts can be mapped three variant mindsets of thinking
of Aceh people.7
The first variant is those who become a fanatical group to the ulama. Some
of them set up balee and rangkang institutions. These are called teungku. The
teungku are an interpreter of the ulama. They established and became balee
leaders, became teachers in meunasah, balee and dayah. The second variant is
generally a modernist and critical, both continuing education in the field of Islam
or non-religious majors. The third variant is the majority that dominates the
community in Aceh. They are more inclined to be loyal to scholars without
rational considerations. But they are not too fanatical to the ulama.
Aceh is one of the regions in Indonesia that is very appreciative of
modernity. The forms of modernity that can be found clearly in Aceh are
infrastructure, political and economic development, particularly trade and
banking. The crystallization of traditional theological and jurisprudential
codifications makes religion incapable of responding to modernity. In the
concept of al-Turabi about democratic Islamic jurisprudence, if the ulama fail to
respond to modernity, the society should abandon them. But in Aceh, although
the ulama fail to respond to modernity, people's loyalty to the ulama is still
strong.
This research would like to examine the factor of community loyalty to the
ulama’s authority in modernity in Aceh. This study used an ethnographic
approach by conducting in-depth interviews with resource persons and
phenomenological observations.8 Researchers collect, reduce, process and
____________
6To continue education in dayah, hierarchically from the lowest level, one must first complete

studies in the rangkang, meunasah, and bale.

7This division is not always consistent. There is a traditionalist who becomes secular; there is a
secular becomes modernist; there is a traditionalist becomes secular. I determine this division based
on the tendency of each intellectual group whether he has a traditional, secular, or modern-Islamist
paradigm.
8Clark Moustakas, Phenomenological Research Methods (London: Sage Publications, 1994), 21.

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present data with observations of sociological concepts and theories associated

with the subject of discussion.

B. Loyalty Test to the Ulama

In Aceh, the ulama are always involved with factual and pragmatic
dynamics such as economics and politics. The ulama are always involved in all
matters of society including politics. In the dominance of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-
Jama'ah during the last three centuries, various social and political dynamics
continue to occur in Aceh. The ulama, as the stakeholder religious authorities
have never been absent in the constellation. But the unique is, people's loyalty to
the ulama never faded. All social change, all forms of modernization that are part
of the change of society have never had a significant influence on the immunity
of the ulama's authority and the identity of Ahlus-sunnah Waljamaah. In the
political struggle for a power struggle, each ulama directly determines the choice
and recommends the community to elect one of the candidates for the regional
head or legislative member. Such actions by the ulama are a longstanding
tradition in Aceh. Nevertheless, if the backed candidate is defeated, the ulama
will not lose authority before the people. Even rulers who previously did not
have the support of certain ulama still approached them. The phenomenon is
evidence of the stance and decisions of the ulama in politics do not make them
lose the trust of the community.
For an ever-changing era, with a high purchasing power, the people of
Aceh9 faster accept modernity. For all sorts of new things appearing before the
community in Aceh, of course, ulama cannot respond to any kind of modernity.
In this case, scholars who have a basic religious background in rangkang, balee
and meunasah but their higher education is pursued in a general department or
modern religious department argue,10 ulama cannot respond to all types of
modernity, ulama do not understand modern problems in detail. So that ulama
choose to be passive for cases that are not directly related to religion.
The ulama feel that they have no obligation to respond to contemporary
problems that are so concrete. Any issue that is not explicitly found in the texts
____________
9Suriani and Juliansyah Putra, “Faktor-Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Permintaan Gula di

Indonesia,” Jurnal Ekonomika 6, no. 3 (2012): 1–9.

10A. Hasjmy, Sumbangan Kesusastraan Aceh dalam Pembinaan Kesusasteraan Indonesia

(Jakarta: Bulan Bintang, 1978).

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and not specifically addressed in the codification of Islamic law they are adhering
to, the ulama will not respond. For example, the issue of infrastructure
development. Infrastructure development generally leads to depletion of natural
resources and the impact of the destruction of natural ecosystems that cause
natural disasters. In Aceh, the community is generally domiciled in the foothills,
the natural decline has direct impacts with the emergence of floods. Natural
damage is so severe in Aceh. The developers who are rich businessmen freely
dredge nature such as leveling the hills for their land, draining the sand at the
bottom of the river, clearing the forest to pick up the rocks of mountains, sand,
and soil.11
The modernists argue that the ulama are unwilling to intervene in modern
matters that are not religiously related because they do not understand the
negative effects. There are so many modern problems facing communities that
are in fact at odds with ethics from a religious perspective. The construction of
infrastructure is one of the modern cases that have caused natural destruction.
The ulama should issue a fatwa on the environment that is getting damaged due
to infrastructure development. But they chose to silence. Besides, the modernist
claim, the ulama do not respond to technical matters related to modernity for
fear of losing charisma.12
The Islamic Holy Text strongly advocates preserving the environment. 13
But the ulama did not use it as a basis of consideration and the basis for issuing a
fatwa. Because the propositions on ecology are not included in the special
discussion of the sect of the schools believed. Thus, it is indicated that the
guidelines of ulama are not the Qur'an and Hadith but the books of schools that
have been codified by the scholars of the past. But the traditionalist argues, the
Qur'an and Ḥadīth should not be interpreted directly without referring to the
book of 'classical scholars.14 The scholars of the codifiers of the past madhhab do
not address ecological issues specifically because, in their time, ecology has not
become a serious issue.
____________
11Interview with Mulyadi, M.A., August 10, 2017.

12Interview with Ikhsan Azhar, S.E., August 20, 2017.

13Fazlun M. Khalid and Joanne O’Brien, eds., “Islam and Ecology: World Religions and Ecology,”
in Islam and Ecology: World Religions and Ecology (Michigan: Cassell, 1992).
14Interview with Tgk. Muhammad Abduh, July 12, 2017.

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So it can be said that the ulama only became the authority stakeholder for
the schools of jurisprudence and theology in the past. For that reason, it is only
natural that they cannot be guided except for static problems in religion such as
the law of ṭaharah, salat, zakat, fasting, pilgrimage, and some static matter.
Today, people are well aware that the ulama’s authority only on static
religious matters.15 Society does not want the ulama to intervene in matters that
are not directly related to religious symbols. Society does not want the ulama to
be a hegemony as Gramsci sees in the state's treatment of society.16 The ulama
understand that if they suppress society, then society will do resistance. And
when that happens, then the charism of the ulama will be lost. This is greatly
feared by the ulama because it can make people lose their guidance in religion.
Society can be far away from its religion. So that, as disclosed by Sandal and
James, happened mutual understanding between the community with religious
authority.
In the view of the modernists, the ulama only understood the written
concept in the classical books they studied. Besides being unconcerned with
issues that are not detected by classical Jurisprudence, the ulama also do not
want to lose their influence. For example, if there is an ulama who speaks
disturbing the business of a certain party, then the disturbed party will not be
willing to entrust his son in dayah led by that ulama. So, in this case, scholars do
not want to look for trouble. Moreover, even if they sound, related to the
development of infrastructure, for example, it will not be able to change the
ambitions of the developers. Though the ulama share their direct impact of the
negative effects of infrastructure development that is done without control. The
Islamic education center at Samalanga Bireuen is the largest complex of
traditional Islamic education in Aceh. Whenever water exceeded over river
Batee Ilik, there always been a flood. But the ulama there never once mentioned

____________
15Fatimah Zuhrah, “Pergeseran Peran dan Posisi Ulama pada Masyarakat Melayu di Tanjung

Pura Kabupaten Langkat,” Hikmah: Journal of Islamic Studies 12, no. 2 (2016): 83–102.
16Antonio Gramsci, Selection from the Prison, ed. Quintin Hoare dan Nowell Smith (India:
Novena Offest Printing, 1996); Miswari, “Mu‘ḍilat al-Aqlīyah al-Masīḥīyah fī Ḥudūd Balad al-Sharī‘ah
al-Islāmīyah,” Studia Islamika 25, no. 2 (2018): 351; James Martin, “Hegemony and the Crisis of
Legitimacy in Gramsci,” History of the Human Sciences 10, no. 1 (1997): 37–56,
https://doi.org/10.1177/095269519701000103; Douglas Litowitz, “Gramsci, Hegemony, and the
Law,” BYU Law Review, 2000, 515–52, https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004.

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the problem of the natural disaster. They have never intertwined the floods with
the destruction of nature. But if there is a doctrine that is slightly different from
that of the ulama and their followers who try to spread the teachings, that is
where the' ulama and their followers issued a fatwa to reject the teaching. If
necessary, send all santri complete with a machete in hand to destroy the
teachings that they consider heretical.17 This shows how the ulama are only
obliged and responsible for issues directly related to religion.
In Aceh, every individual has their egoism. Each field has a stakeholder
authority. Sacrality has its place. The last descendant of the King of Aceh,
Muhammad Daud Shah, at his school was often harassed by his friends. The
king's son does not have a special place in the public space. The descendants of
sultans and ulee balangs are even considered a symbol of feudalism that has
been overthrown by the people. If in other areas the descendants of Prophet
Muhammad (sayyid, ḥabīb) descent is so glorified, in Aceh, they are not given
special honor. If there is a descendant of Prophet Muhammad who became a
ulama, then he is respected as the ulama. Respected in his field as a steward of
religious authority, not because he descended from the Prophet Muhammad.
There is no sacredness in Aceh except for its respective territory of authority. So,
the term appears: every Acehnese is a prince.18
Authorities are limited to their respective fields. The ulama are respectable
in the field of religion, not other fields. The customary area is held by the ulee
balang, the forestry field is held by the handlers, the formal school education
field is held by the teachers and the religious field is held by the ulama.19 For that,
the ulama must understand the limits of their authority. Public awareness of
certain authorities for their respective fields makes them understand that the
ulama only understands the religious field. “For example, an ulama inserts a
campaign on the sidelines of lectures and recitation. In response, the public just
silent and smile. But society remains with their choice”.20 It is proof that people
believe in the ulama, in the religious field only.

____________
17Interview with Mulyadi, M.A., August 10, 2017.

18Interview with Ziaulhaq, SE, M.Si., September 1, 2017.

19Interview with Ziaulhaq, SE, M.Si., September 1, 2017.

20Interview with Ikhsan Azhar, S.E., August 20, 2017.

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In Aceh, the recommendation of an ulama to choose a particular person as a

candidate for the regional head is a tradition that has existed for a long time.21 If
in some other places in Indonesia the scholars are not too brave to recommend a
candidate for the regional head, worried about losing appreciation if the
candidate that he support loses.22 But in Aceh, an ulama explicitly recommends a
particular candidate. Join a campaign. Usually, each person of ulama supports a
different candidate.
The direct involvement of the ulama in practical politics becomes an
indication of the charisma of the ulama in Aceh is very high. If a candidate for a
political leader supported by ulama is not elected, the other elected candidate
still asks for blessings and asks advice from the' ulama who did not support him
before. Whoever is elected head of the region, although he is not supported by
certain ulama, then still the head of the region needs the' ulama. Asking for
advice is only the mode of the chief, especially of the ulama who do not support
him. The main purpose of the head of the region is to get support, or at least not
appear resistance from the ulama. To this day, the people of Aceh are very
reluctant to the ulama. If the ulama do not appreciate the policy of the regional
head, there will be community resistance to the policy of the regional head. And
this disrupts the stability of the government.23
Although people want to break away from the ulama in professional affairs,
not all professional issues are separated practically with religion. Sometimes
political, scientific, educational and legal issues can be constructed to be directly
related to religion. But in general, the ulama are not given the authority to handle
matters outside of religious issues.
According to al-Turabi, the disengagement of the ulama's role from the
practical affairs caused religion to be stagnant.24 Religion is no longer seen as a
solution and guidance in human life. Religion becomes only a small space in
human life. When people face obstacles in practical life, not seeing religion as
____________
21Rasul Hamidy, Fachruddin Hasballah, and Rusmin Tumanggor, “Kharisma Ulama dalam

Persepsi Masyarakat Aceh,” Working Paper (Banda Aceh, 1982).

22Interview with Yazid Qulbuddin, November 10, 2017.

23M. Hasbi Amiruddin, Ulama Dayah Pengawal Agama Masyarakat Aceh (Lhokseumawe:
Nadiya Foundation, 2007), 41.
24 Hasan al-Hasan al-Turabi, Fiqih Demokratis: Dari Tradisionalisme Kolektif Menuju

Modernisme Populis, ed. Abdul Haris and Zaimul Am (Bandung: Arasy, 2003).

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something that can provide a solution.Because the people have tried to interact
with religion, which is certainly through the ulama, to solve practical problems,
but makes the problem even greater.25 Not because religion itself is unable to
provide a way out, but because the ulama who have caused religion to lose
power in providing solutions to practical life. The ulama are limit religious only
in the affairs of ḥalāl and ḥarām. Religion is not turned on as it should be.
The ulama do not want to interfere with issues that do not relate practically
to religion. They understand that the community will not obey and can leave
them when issuing recommendations that are not solutive or detrimental to the
interests of certain parties.26 Therefore the ulama chose to be passive.
According to al-Turabi,27 the ulama avoided to save themselves. But the
avoidance of the ulama certainly not directly interpreted as an attempt to save
oneself solely. Avoiding them is an attempt to avoid the perception that religion
is not able to respond to practical issues in people's lives. Because the ulama are
the actual symbols of religion. If the ulama are abandoned by society by failing to
provide solutions in the life of society, then society will practically abandon the
ulama and this is a symbol they have left religion.
Religion is the most sensitive segment. Therefore, the blessing of the ulama
is needed by the government. Religion is a segment separate from pragmatic
affairs such as politics. But with intelligent propaganda, religion can be easily
attributed to political affairs so that very often religion becomes the determinant
of pragmatic affairs.
The secularity of thinking is not only from the people but also from the
ulama. There has been a case of an ulama running for the head of one of the
regions in Aceh. The other ulama did not support him. According to them, an
ulama should not be the head of a region because if he fails to lead the govern-
ment, then not only his image as the head of the region damaged but also his
image as an ulama. If the image of the ulama is corrupted then it affects the image
____________
25Jamal Ma’mur, “Hegemoni dan Counter Hegemony Otoritas Tradisional Studi Pemikiran

Gender Ulama NU di Kecamatan Trangkil Pati,” International Journal Ihya’ ’Ulum Al-Din, 2017,
https://doi.org/10.21580/ihya.16.2.1654.
26Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, Konsep Pendidikan dalam Islam (Bandung: Mizan, 1988),
35.
27al-Turabi, Fiqih Demokratis: Dari Tradisionalisme Kolektif Menuju Modernisme Populis.

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of religion.28 This mindset is similar to Nurcholish Madjid’thought.29 Madjid

suggests separating religious affairs from pragmatic affairs. The reason is that
sacred religious affairs are not involved in pragmatic-oriented worldly affairs.30
Therefore, religion has indeed been agreed upon by the community and ulama as
a small segment of human life. Religion deals only with practical worship.
The modernist scholars argue that today the ulama only respond to the
problems of spiritual symbolism.31 For example, when there is a stream that is
slightly different from the teachings of dayah then the ulama, the teungku, and
the santri react to dissolve their lectures and worship. Even the traditionalists
have done extreme acts against the flow that is considered heretical.32 But they
do not care about usury that has been rampant in the midst of society.33 The
ulama only focuses on static affairs in religion and, as al-Turabi says, they are
unable to determine the priority scale.34
“When did they ever come to the bank to dissolve usury? Yet the sin of riba
is the same as zina dozens of times. Why the mass of the ulama actively
disperse cafes and tourist attractions that are only indicated to be a nasty
place for the youth. They are only busy with small things but ignore the
immorality.”35
According to modernist scholars, the ulama, the teungku, and the santri only
focus on the lower classes. They are less concerned with the owners of
companies and the government. "Why are they busy attacking clothing sellers
but never pressuring the government to prohibit inappropriate clothing from
entering Aceh. Why are they busy taking care of the nasty cases but not pressing
the government to block accessible porn sites in Aceh.”36
____________
28 Rajali Samidan, “Abu Tumin: Ulama tidak Tepat Mencalonkan Diri Menjadi Bupati,” Kanal

Aceh, May 10, 2016, https://www.kanalaceh.com/2016/05/10/abu-tumin-ulama-ikut-pilkada-

aceh-kurang-tepat/.
29Budhy Munawar-Rachman, Argumen Islam untuk Pluralisme (Jakarta: Grasindo, 2010), 266.

30Madjid, Islam Kemodernan dan Keindonesiaan.

31Interview with Mulyadi, M.A., August 10, 2017.

32Hasyim, “Massa Ambil Paksa Mimbar Masjid Arongan,” Serambinews.Com, April 6, 2013,

https://aceh.tribunnews.com/2013/04/06/massa-ambil-paksa-mimbar-masjid-arongan.
33Interview with Ziaulhaq, SE, M.Si., September 1, 2017.

34al-Turabi, Fiqih Demokratis: Dari Tradisionalisme Kolektif Menuju Modernisme Populis.

35Interview with Mulyadi, M.A., August 10, 2017.

36Interview with Nasrullah, M.Pd., September 28, 2017.

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With the blessings of the ulama and the teungku, the santri, even though
there is a special state institution to deal with, often do sweeping clothes that are
considered strict. They often take extreme measures for people who are deemed
clothed not following the rules of Islam, which is certainly the rule of Islam in the
meaning of the ulama and the teungku. But they do not urge the government and
employers not to bring in Aceh's forbidden clothes. They only crack down on
poor civilians and who may not have much of a collection of clothing.
The free trade products entering Aceh does not become an area of
concentration among traditionalists. They banned books that were incompatible
with Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamā'ah's beliefs. 37 But they do not take action against
digital media that makes it easy to access all the books with all kinds of teachings
in the world.
But they do not take action against digital media that makes it easy to access
all the books with all kinds of teachings in the world.38 One of the factors that led
to candidates for regional heads in Aceh who campaigned with religious slogans
such as the strengthening of Islamic Sharia could not increase their electability.
The people prefer candidates for regional heads who carry human slogans such
as improving the quality of education, health, transportation and aid for the poor.
Even in the minds of the ulama, there is an indication of the secularity of
thought, but loyalists to the ulama disagreed with the ulama not being involved
in pragmatic affairs.
“The ulama have a high level of reason and spirituality. Their perspective is
very visionary, more than anyone else. They can see things not only by the
naked eye and reasoning but have strong inner eyes. Their vision
transcends all aspects of our lives. So, of course, every advice, advice, and
direction from the ulama is the best way for us. In the Hereafter, when we
are held accountable for decisions in life, we can say that the choice follows
the direction of the ulama, then we are saved. After the Prophet is not with
us, then whom do we follow? Of course, it is the person whose capacity is
near the prophet. Who is he? Of course, the ulama.'' 39
____________
37Bakri, “Kitab Ghairu Muktabar Haram,” Serambinews.Com, November 24, 2017,

https://aceh.tribunnews.com/2017/11/24/kitab-ghairu-muktabar-haram.
38Wahyudi Akmaliah, “When Ulama Support a Pop Singer Fatin Sidqiah and Islamic Pop

Culture in Post-Suharto Indonesia,” Al-Jami’ah: Journal of Islamic Studies 52, no. 2 (2014): 351–72
https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2014.522.351-373.
39Interview with Tgk. Sayuti, October 8, 2017.

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Although the teungku recognize the ulama do not know the details of the
various praxis issues of society, but the' ulama are considered able to give
general advice. And general advice that can be taken into consideration in
determining decisions and practical actions.
The people of Aceh to this day are still many who ask for advice and
practical considerations to the ulama and the teungku to their praxis problem.40
But because it is only as non-binding advice, then the advice is only used as part
of the reference in decisions and actions. The government and corporations also
often ask advice from the ulama.41 But the two types of institutions have their
different objective bases. Governments are bound by certain very complicated
rules.42 So even if they seek the advice of the ulama, often the advice is only used
as a normative foundation that is not seen practically in the decisions and
policies of the state. Corporations have a fundamental orientation of obtaining
profit as much as possible. The advice of the ulama only they use as long as it is
profitable. The ulama, the teungku, and the santri do not put pressure on the
state and the corporation. Whereas, the two types of institutions that are
determinants of public life.
The attitude of the ulama made the modernists less fond of the religious
authorities. This attitude also makes people loyal to ulama apathetic. As a result,
resistance to religious-style policies is increasingly prevalent in the midst of the
society.43 Then came the term from the people of Aceh:
Ulama jameun pijuet-pijut
Gadoh Kalued baca doa
Ulama jinoe tumbon-tumboh
Gadoeh ek-troen rinyeun istana44

____________
40Muliadi Kurdi, “Abdul Aziz,” Ensiklopedia Ulama Besar Aceh (Banda Aceh: NASA, 2015);

Amiruddin, Ulama Dayah Pengawal Agama Masyarakat Aceh.

41Miswari, “Mu‘ḍilat al-Aqlīyah al-Masīḥīyah fī Ḥudūd Balad al-Sharī‘ah al-Islāmīyah.”

42Ismail Fahmi Arrauf Nasution and Miswari Miswari, “Menangkap Pesan Tuhan: Urgensi

Kontekstualisasi al-Qur’an Melalui Hermeunetika,” Jurnal At-Tibyan 3, no. 2 (2018): 223–37,

https://doi.org/10.32505/tibyan.v3i2.698.
43Muhammad Ansor, “Being Woman in the Land of Shari‘a: Politics of the Female Body, Piety,

and Resistance in Langsa, Aceh,” Al-Jami’ah: Journal of Islamic Studies 52, no. 1 (April 8, 2015): 59–83,
https://doi.org/10.14421/ajis.2014.521.59-83.
44M. Hasbi Amiruddin, “Jati Diri Ulama Aceh,” 2013.

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The Acehnese saying is meaningful, the ulama in the past to be thin, very
tawāḍu', their time spent in meditation and worship. But the ulama today are fat
because they often enter the royal palace or the ruler. But the saying was
disputed by fanatic circles to the ulama. According to them, the ulama should
indeed be close to the ruler so that they can continue to advise them. That way,
the ruler can continue to be guided by the ulama. But is the pattern effective?
According to the loyalists to the ulama, the proximity of the ulama with
power has long historical roots. In the time of the kingdom, the ulama became
the place where the kings asked, asking for advice, opinions, and guidance. But
today, the power approach to the ulama has another orientation that is so that
government and corporate policies are accepted by society. Public acceptance is
strongly influenced by the recruitment of the ulama. Therefore, today, the ruler
approaches the ulama not to seek opinions and guidance but to persuade the'
ulama to accept government policies.
The loyalists to the ulama argue, because the ulama are not the holiest ones,
then the error or deficiency certainly can’t be ignored from the' ulama. “We
know that the higher the quality of one's faith, the stronger the temptation of the
devil. Then, of course, the temptation of the ulama is very powerful. But the few
shortcomings of the ulama we find can’t be an excuse to leave them.”45
The modernists believe that the failure of religion to respond to modernity
is because the ulama fail to understand the issues of modernity. They are
considered incapable of reinterpreting the Holly Book so that the book of God is
effective for modern humans. The failure occurred because the ulama did not
dare to come out of the codification of schools and the flow of classical theology.
Though the ulama who codify the flow of theology and the school aims to
interpret the scriptures to respond to the phenomenon of its time.
Uniquely the ulama of today believe that the door of ijtihad has been closed
so they dare not interpret the Holy Cults for today's needs. The 'old' only served
to voice the classical codification for modern times. Consequently, a society that
cannot avoid modernity loses the function of religion in its practical life. Religion
is only empowered in static ritual worship rituals. Because apparently, that has
not expired from the classical codification is about the ritual of worship only. As a
result, the ulama have only authority in the field of static worship rituals.
____________
45Interview with Tgk. Busmadar, July 28, 2017.

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Based on the awareness of the crisis of legitimacy experienced,46 the ulama

began to try to reduce their prohibitions against the santri. For example, if the
first students are prohibited from using smartphones in dayah. Now in some
dayah, the ban has been revoked. Because if they overeat too much of modernity,
they will lose their legitimacy.
Just a few days later the ulama saw using smartphones. Previously, they
consider smartphones are objects that can bring great harm. But since such
views and actions began to be a conversation in society, the ulama were
considered anti-modernity, then they started using smartphones and allowed
their students to use the communication tool.
By being open to modernity, society has become increasingly fond of the
ulama. In dayah began to be developed institutions publishing books, journals,
bulletins, and even online news portals. Modern communication media is getting
a place in dayah. With this attitude, people increasingly prefer to leave their
children in dayah. Though somewhat loosely attached to modernity, the
authority of the ulama remains in its field of religion.
Only by gaining religious authority, even though religion is a sensitive affair
for society, as religion is powerless for practical affairs, religion will continue to
be shunned by society. Thus, the ulama also become increasingly distant from
the community. With the loosening of the distance between the community and
the authorities, the government's agenda will be easier. Modernity can also take
place smoothly. Thus, society will more easily adjust to the times.
But will religion be abandoned by communities? Religion remains in his
space, the worship space. That's where the authority of the ulama. So, what
about the Islamic Shariah which became the legal law in Aceh? The formalization
of Islamic Sharia in Aceh can be said to have no connection with the ulama. The
Islamic Sharia is under the construction of Muslim scholars from modern Islamic
colleges, legislative members and government executives. Sometimes scholars
are only positioned as ad stars for Islamic sharia campaigns. Formalization of
Islamic law is the state's agenda, not the ulama's agenda, not the agenda of the
community. Since its end Darul Islam/Tentara Islam Indonesia (DI/TII), Islamic
Shari'a is no longer the agenda of Aceh. GAM was founded not to demand Islamic
shari'a. GAM was born out of anxiety over the notion of economic injustice to
society, not demanding Islamic shari'a.
____________
46Jurgen Habermas, Legitimation Crisis (Boston: Beacon Press, 1975).

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C. The Immunity of the Community’s Loyalty

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the community in Aceh is
divided into three parts: 1) continue his religious education to dayah, 2) choose
to enter the government education institution, and 3) choose not to continue
education. So, divided into three levels of community namely: 1) the teungku
who fanatic to the ulama, 2) the modernist and 3) the general public that
dominates the community.
Because the second part is very few and their critical views are difficult to
understand by the crowded third circles, their critical views are poorly accepted.
Therefore, the general public who was disarmed by the third group remained
loyal to the ulama, but only on religious matters. The third is a community that
has learned from the ulama indirectly from the teungku.
The second part has also learned from the teungku, but there is largely
shaped by their generally secular and moderate. Although only the first group
became a fanatical party to the ulama, because the third part is dominant, then
they are the determinants of loyalty to the ulama. But because they are
constantly confronting modernity, then for matters that do not relate practically
to religion, they do not give authority to the ulama. The authority of the ulama is
only given to religious affairs.
Likewise, with the second group, though critical-minded, in unchanging
matters of religion such as religious jurisprudence, they generally keep giving
that loyalty to the ulama. So the loyalty of society generally to the ulama still have
immunity on religious issues. Although the immunity of loyalty is only in the
religious segment, because religion is an important segment of Acehnese life
since almost all Acehnese have received religious education in rangkang, balee
and meunasah, the position of the ulama in Aceh remain sacred.

D. Conclusion
Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamā’ah in the interpretation of the authority of the
ulama will still be the identity of Aceh even though modernity is constantly
entering Aceh. It will continue to be the dominant teaching because it is easily
understood by the general public. The ulama will still have the immunity of
loyalty with notes interfering in the pragmatic affairs of society. Despite
continuing modernization, religion remains an important segment of society.

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Although modernity is always accepted by society because it is a necessity of the

times,47 the human need for religion will increase. As long as religion becomes
an important segment of people's lives, community loyalty to authority remains
immune.
Although only one authority in one segment is the same, the immunity of
community loyalty to the authority of the ulama remains strong because religion
is a segment that is considered very important by society. Esoteric teachings
remain only an insignificant part of society because it is only followed by small
communities.
From the results of research on modernist and traditionalist Muslims about
the immunity of community loyalty to the authority of the ulama in modernity, it
was found that traditionalists who are dayah alumni do not agree that society
only gives authority to the' ulama in the segments of religion.
But the modernists argue that the ulama only understand the religious
issues contained in the codification of fiqh and certain theological schools. They
are perceived to have failed to provide a solution to the problems of the
worldliness of society so it is not worth interfering in the affairs of society in
modernity. Modernists say that the ulama are unwilling to intervene in technical
matters because they can jeopardize the stability of community loyalty.
From the results of this study, the authority is given to the ulama only in the
field of theology (the principle of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamā'ah), regular worship
(the rules of prayer, fasting, zakat, pilgrimage) and shakhsiyah (marriage,
divorce, division of inheritance), theological education and jurisprudence
(holding of the corpse and leading the prayers of the newborn child and the
newly deceased). While other affairs commonly referred to as mundane affairs
such as formal education, law, politics, development, and others have their
respective authorities that are not disturbed by the ulama. Even the ulama claim
to be responsible only for issues that are practically and explicitly related to
religion.[]

____________
47Cipta Bakti Gama, “Fondasi Psikopatologi Islam: Suatu Pendekatan Psikofilosofis terhadap

Konsep Gangguan Jiwa dan Faktor Penyebabnya dalam Al-Qur’an” (PTIQ Jakarta, 2018); Cipta Bakti
Gama, “Reduksionisme Eksplanatif Untuk Antropologi Transendental Jawadi Amuli,” Kanz
Philosophia : A Journal for Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism 5, no. 2 (2015): 147–64,
https://doi.org/10.20871/KPJIPM.V5I2.133.

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